‘Avengers’ Make It a Box Office Three-Peat!

Disney and Marvel’s The Avengers topped the box office for the third straight week as three wide release newcomers entered the summer marketplace. A staggering $55 million in its third weekend gives the moneymaking superheroes the second best third weekend performance in box office history behind only Avatar’s $68.5 million and just ahead of Spider-Man’s $45 million. By Sunday night after just 17 days of release these box office avengers will have a domestic total near $458 million and a global total stretching even further beyond the $1 billion mark with a current $1.180.4 million total. The film is currently #4 film of all time globally, #6 film of all time domestically, and #7 film of all time internationally!

See additional stats below courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures:
MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS (Marvel): 3rd week of release
Worldwide, Marvel’s The Avengers has surpassed Toy Story 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest to become the biggest Disney release of all time and is currently the #4 film of all time on a global basis.
DOMESTIC WKND ESTIMATE (May 18-20): $55.1M at 4,249 locations (down 47% from last weekend). Weekend theater average: $12,958.
INTERNATIONAL WKND ESTIMATE (May 18-20): $56.0M
MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS is currently in release in 54 territories representing about 95% of the international market.
ESTIMATED DOMESTIC CUME: $457.1M MILLION
ESTIMATED INTERNATIONAL CUME: $723.3 MILLION
ESTIMATED GLOBAL CUME: $1.180.4 MILLION
HIGHLIGHTS:
Crossed $1B global threshold in 19 days (May 13). First Marvel film and fifth Disney release to reach $1B.
Currently #4 film of all time globally, #6 film of all time domestically, and #7 film of all time internationally.
On Saturday, the film became Disney’s highest grossing film domestically, passing PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST.
In Latin America, MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS has accumulated $171M to date, exceeding the entire run of AVATAR and TITANIC to become the highest grossing film inhistory.
Highest-grossing film of 2012 on a global, international, and domestic basis.
Highest-grossing Disney release of all time globally and domestically.

Domestic:
On Saturday, the film became Disney’s highest grossing film domestically, passing PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST.
Fastest film to reach $400M (14 days), $300M (9 days) and $200M (3 days).
Biggest opening weekend of all time ($207.4M).
Biggest second weekend of all time ($103M) and the first time in history a film crossed the $100M+ mark in its 2nd weekend.
Highest Saturday ($69.5M) and Sunday ($57M) totals of all time.
Second-biggest single-day gross of all time ($80.8M).
Marvel’s The Avengers has passed the total domestic cumes for Captain America ($177M), Thor ($181M), Iron Man 2 ($312.4M) and Iron Man ($318.4M).
International:
Marvel’s The Avengers surpassed the international box office totals of Captain America ($192M), Iron Man ($266.7M), Thor ($268.3M) and Iron Man 2 ($311.5M) in just 12days of release.
Biggest opening weekend of all time in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Central America, Peru, Bolivia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, United Arab Emirates.

With $226.8 million already in the war chest internationally, Universal’s Battleship starring Liam Neeson and pop music phenom Rihanna hit North American theaters this weekend with a $25.3 million debut. The film earned another $6.5 million internationally this weekend pushing its worldwide total to over $250 million. The PG-13 action sci-fi thriller which also stars John Carter’s Taylor Kitsch, takes its name from the popular Hasbro board game and is the second big budget action film of the summer.

Bringing his unique comedic sensibilities to theaters for the third time is Sacha Baron Cohen in Paramount’s R-rated comedy The Dictator. In the wake of Borat and Bruno, Cohen has made a name for himself as a purveyor of off-beat humor and wild characterizations. Having already earned $4.2 million on Wednesday and $2.9 million on Thursday, the film had a better-than-expected weekend total of $17.4 million for a third place debut and a five day total of $25.3 million. The Dictator opened to a worldwide gross of $54.8m this wknd, with a gross of $30.3m internationally. We opened 29 markets, 9 of which were top 20 markets. Our highest grossing markets were as follows: UK earning $7.3m, AUS earning $5.6, Germany earning $4.4m, Russia earning $2.5m and Norway earning $1.4.

Warner Bros.’ Dark Shadows starring Johnny Depp and directed by Tim Burton scared up $12.77 million in its second weekend and raises its 10 day total to $50.9 million. The film is an update of the gothic TV soap opera from the late 60’s and also stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Helena Bonham Carter.

Rounding out the top five is Lionsgate’s ensemble comedy What to Expect When You’re Expecting earning $10.5 million. Starring Jennifer Lopez, Cameron Diaz, Matthew Morrison, Elizabeth Banks, Anna Kendrick, Brooklyn Decker, Dennis Quaid and Chris Rock, the PG-13 rated romantic comedy had appeal to females as well as the date crowd looking for some laughs in their summer movie diet.

Unfortunately this was a “down” weekend at the nation’s theaters with tough comparisons to last year’s comparable weekend when Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides had its $90.1 million opening weekend along with Bridesmaids and a $21 million debut. Year-to-date is still ahead of last year by nearly 16% as we await the men of Sony’s Men In Black 3 in 3-D top come to the box office rescue.